Transparency, access to information and protection of personal data against COVID-19

The health emergency situation generated by the Covid-19 pandemic has generated innumerable challenges at a global level. Among them, it has challenged the transparency mechanisms of public information and the guarantor bodies in charge of protecting them. This publication analyzes the impact of states of alarm or emergency on the guarantees of transparency, the right of access to information and the right to protection of personal data; the way in which they are contemplated in national laws; the main barriers to their effective protection in times of pandemic; and the necessary weighting of rights in games. This document contains the result of the review of practices extracted from the experiences that occurred in RTA countries and the EU (with a focus on Germany, Spain, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom, among others), within the framework of the different contexts normative and affecting the rights of access to information and protection of personal data as a consequence of the measures adopted by governments in response to the emergency generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the conclusions and recommendations based on their analysis.

The publication was prepared by the EUROsociAL + Program, as part of a special action, in alliance with the RTA, the Transparency and Access to Information Network and support from Sustentia.